Swing Easy In a Hammock

Hammocks make a great place to relax
Hammocks are a common sight in Brazilian households and truly represent the tropical escape. In São Luis hammocks or redes in Portuguese are used constantly as the high heat calls for a quick and easy way to escape and relax in some shade. Hammocks can be hung inside or outside, and when you look around the walls inside the houses here a lot of times you’ll see empty hooks hanging from the walls, which is a great indicator that a hammock can be hung right there. Usually a bedroom will have a bed and space for at least five hammocks, one in every corner of the room and one straight across, making it easy to accommodate friends and family who want to relax or spend the night.

A Hammock easily hung on the porch
The city of São Luis is made of large families, if you know you have one relative in São Luis it is extremely likely you have at least twenty unknown relatives. This means that there are always lots of people around, meaning lots of people who need a place to sit or sleep. Hammocks make finding space for everyone easy. When some of my older relatives were telling me stories about huge sleepovers with all the cousins together, the first image that came to my mind was lots of bunk beds but what they actually had was a huge room strung full of hammocks for all the cousins to sleep in, but then I was even told they could make bunk beds out of hammocks. They would make the strings shorter for the top hammock and then put another hammock underneath. An easy way for parents to make space for all the children, and what child does not love playing around with a hammock.

Today hammocks in São Luis are becoming chic, no longer just a classic vision of relaxation. São Luis is the perfect example of a traditional Brazilian city, but today it is growing and doing so very quickly. The hammock remains a household staple though, and as the city becomes more cosmopolitan so do the hammocks. You can buy hammocks from art markets and premade at stores, but you can also have a hammock personalized. Hammocks have become a part of interior decorating, where you can go to a store and pick a color or pattern that matches the room the hammock will be in, and you can even have your hammock personalized with your name or anything you would like.

Hammocks that bloomed after lunch time
The most important thing I found about hammocks here in São Luis is that they represent the astrol or the character of the people in São Luis. A city that’s growing with surging businesses but with people that preserve the traditions of their grandparents and stop to appreciate the moment and the time they have with friends and family. The idea to appreciate life’s simple joys and that they are perfect just as they come.

Fun Fact: One of the most common times to see the most hammocks is after lunch. Lunch is traditionally the main meal of the day in Brasil, and after a filling meal and the hot heat in São Luis everything seems to feel like its moving a lot slower making resting in a hammock a very nice idea.


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